


The Night of His Life

by deadgranger



Series: The Triwizard Effect [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Yule Ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-17
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-04-09 17:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4358633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadgranger/pseuds/deadgranger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's expecting a rather boring Yule Ball, but when Hermione stumbles into him crying, perhaps his evening might just take a rather unprecedented turn of events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night of His Life

“Are you going to ask me to dance or not?” Padma asked Ron, miffed that he hadn’t done so already.

“No,” Ron replied gruffly. Padma huffed and accepted the Durmstrang boy that came up to her a moment later, pulling Parvati with her to leave Harry and Ron alone at the table.

Harry looked over at Ron to see that he was glaring at Hermione and Viktor dancing. He couldn’t help be feel slightly uncomfortable with the situation as well, considering how beautiful Hermione looked in her periwinkle blue dress and how much older Krum was than her. He was just worried about her wellbeing, right? Harry shook his head to clear it.

“I’m going to go for a walk. It’s a bit stuffy in here,” Harry told Ron, getting up from his seat.

“Want me to come with you?” Ron asked, standing up as well.

“No, it’s fine,” Harry said, running a hand through his rather long hair.

“All right, mate. I’ll go see what Dean and Seamus are up to then,” Ron stated purposefully, looking around the dance floor until he spotted their housemates and walked over to them.

Harry turned and exited the Great Hall, making for the small garden they’d created just outside the castle, wishing to be alone and away from the loud Weird Sisters music. Just as he turned into an alcove, he bumped into Hermione, whose hands were clamped tightly around something he couldn’t see.

“Sorry, ‘Mione!” he apologized, noting the faint tear tracks on her cheeks. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you,” she said, sniffling a little before taking a deep breath in and plastering a smile on her face.  

Harry—knowing she wasn’t fine but not knowing what to do about it—awkwardly reached out and patted her shoulder. This only caused her to burst out into tears and lean into Harry fully, catching him unawares and causing a stirring in his abdomen. He continued patting her on the back until her sobs subsided, giving anyone who passed by them on the path an apologetic smile. Hermione’s tears eventually came to a halt, and she pulled away from Harry’s shoulder, now completely wet and covered in makeup, to look him in the eye.

“I’m sorry about your dress robes,” she said somberly. “Here, let me clean them up for you.” She pulled her wand out of apparent thin air and vanished the makeup and tears from his dress robes before stowing it away somewhere Harry couldn’t see. “Come on, let’s go dance. I feel like annoying Ron tonight,” Hermione stated with confidence, already beginning to pull Harry along the path back to the castle.

“But what about Krum? Wasn’t he your date?” Harry asked, ever the gentleman.

“He’s annoying me too right now, so it’s just us!” she said briskly, her tone warning him not to press it any further. Harry closed his mouth and opted to just go along with whatever scheme Hermione had planned and deal with the consequences later. He realized he’d also have to deal with the consequences of dancing with girl he’d had a crush on since saving her from the troll in first year.

Harry swallowed nervously as they reentered the Great Hall and joined the crowd on the dance floor. He glanced around and saw Parvati across the way with the Beauxbatons boy from earlier and ducked his head quickly, hoping she didn’t see him. The crowd swallowed up her and her partner once again and he resumed his regular posture, noticing how tightly packed in everyone was on the dance floor. He wasn’t quite sure of what to do, seeing as the dance lessons they were given by Professor McGonagall were about waltzing—of which he’d paid no attention—but the Weird Sisters were playing a much more upbeat song and everyone around them was just sort of jumping and bouncing to the beat with their arms in the air.

“Come on, Harry!” Hermione giggled playfully, grabbing his hands and pulling him towards her. He blushed but attempted to copy her movements of jumping and wiggling her body around while ignoring the wonderful way her body looked in her dress. Finally, the song ended and the Weird Sisters began to play another mournful tune. Immediately everyone coupled up and began revolving around the dance floor in slow circles with their partners. “It’s not a waltz, Harry, don’t worry. Just put your hands on my waist and follow my lead,” Hermione encouraged him, lacing her hands behind his neck and guiding him in a small circle.

Once he’d gotten the hang of it, Harry allowed himself to look at the girl in front of him. Even though he was only fourteen and had a very limited knowledge of how to act around girls properly, he could still appreciate beauty when he saw it, and he saw it in Hermione. The way her dress fit her slight curves while still maintaining her conservative nature, the way her hair looked so silky smooth in the sparkling lights, and the way she was looking at him right now. Harry blushed again and looked off behind Hermione’s shoulder and pretended to focus intently on the decorations on the wall as they continued their slow spin around other couples on the dance floor.

“What is it, Harry?” she asked, bringing his attention back to her.

“Er, it’s nothing,” he rushed out, blush creeping up his neck to his cheeks. He didn’t want it to happen like this, to have him confessing his crush to her in the middle of the Yule Ball when she clearly didn’t feel the same about him.

“No it isn’t. You can tell me anything, Harry, you know that,” she replied comfortingly, twirling a bit of his rather too-long hair around her finger.

His heartbeat began accelerating and he felt his palms beginning to sweat against her firm waist.

“I just wanted to say that you, er, you look beautiful tonight,” Harry mumbled. “I mean, you look beautiful every day but that doesn’t matter,” he mumbled even softer, unaware she’d still been able to hear him due to the song ending.

Unexpectedly, she leaned forward and kissed him chastely on the cheek before scurrying away from him and out the doors of the Great Hall, leaving him slightly bewildered in the middle of a newly reenergized crowd of teenagers in fancy clothing dancing to the Weird Sisters like the craziest and most spectacular thing hadn’t just happened to Harry Potter.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first Harry/Hermione piece, so I'd really like some feedback on it! Reviews keep me going and are very much appreciated! Let me know what you liked/disliked about it!  
> ~Madi


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